


A Survival Guide For The Uncommon Witch

by Valentine20xx



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/F, Female Harry Potter, Non-Sexual Bondage
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-06
Updated: 2019-11-14
Packaged: 2020-08-10 14:14:46
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 18,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20136793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Valentine20xx/pseuds/Valentine20xx
Summary: In a magical world changed by the muggle educational system, Nymphadora Tonks finds herself in a strange and unique situation, as she ends up being the new school therapist for Hogwarts.Unfortunately, she knows barely anything about therapy. Thankfully, What she does know works well enough.,,





	1. The Mysterious Book

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Kinky Curses](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/504970) by Yes-I-DiD; Aidenke. 

> Some time ago, I consulted with Aidenke about adapting and expanding in my own ways his work.  
Since there was no original narrative, Kinky Curses could be adapted much more heavily than either of his own self-written works. One major change is that the ‘Kinky Curses’ universe is a post-graduate program, after the defeat of Voldemort, and Kinky Curses is a core part of the narrative.  
Both of these things are changed, but I more am adapting the artworks of Kinky Curses than the narrative itself, so concessions were made. As an result, This story is titled ‘A Survival Guide For The Uncommon Witch’. The reasons for this will become evident as the story progresses.  
I will add that some genders have been changed, after brainstorming with Aidenke himself. The roles within the Potterverse will not, initally, be changed by them, but with time...

_ **In 1943, Muggle educational reforms impacted on the Wizarding World in a curious and lasting way, since they were unable to prove that Hogwarts fulfilled the requirements to be classified as a school within the Muggle Educational System, since it was declared to be a vocational access system with very limited allowance for the three core muggle subjects.  
As a result, Hogwarts was ordered closed for four years, effective immediately, while every single student was certified by the Muggle Educational System, and it was required from that point on that all students, regardless of upbringing, be able to prove that they had at least completed Muggle schooling with an acceptable grade.** _

_ **Unexpectedly, this also allowed aurors to do a through and complete investigation of the recent murder of Myrtle Warren, which very quickly exonerated Rubeus Hagrid, who agreed to, during the four-year break, complete a certification course on Magical Beasts, which allowed him to be fast-tracked as the on-site handler for Class 5 Restricted creatures for Hogwarts.  
This however was no comfort for Myrtle herself, since the real murderer had never been found. The case, to this date, is a cold case, with no known prime suspect, but the Ministry of the time were applauded for the fact they at least confirmed who ** _ **didn't ** _ **do it.** _

_ **From that time onwards, The Muggle Education System listed Hogwarts as a privately owned boarding school within the secondary education system, which meant that graduation moved to the early 20’s, it’s prestige only enhanced within the Magical World with it’s reclassification to the point that practically all other magical schools converted into feeder schools within the Muggle Education System, with the Ministry Of Magic not wanting to deal again with the Muggle world’s government in such a lasting way.** _

**\- ** _ **The Relationship Between The Muggle Education System And Hogwarts, 1968** _

In hindsight, Nymphadora Tonks had a simple thing to blame on the changing of her lifestyle and career, namely the DADA teacher in her final year at Hogwarts. It had all started when a particularly prestigious appointment was done to the DADA position as a grand gesture by Albus Dumbledore in an attempt to downplay the stigmata the position had gained since Voldemort’s time.

However, Even Dumbledore couldn’t predict the massive problem the man would become for the school, as well as the massive expense that he would be for the school, due to his teaching style. The reason was summed up in the text written on an announcement made by the Deputy Headmistress, and placed in the library entrance.

‘_We wish to state that we will no longer be able to supply the usual free copies of any new required school texts for this year, and may well need to reconsider this program in the future. Professor McGonagall wishes to add that this was due to an unexpected rise in the price of books within a single department, as well as higher than normal demand. She also will personally fire on the spot any professor who requires more than 15 galleons, and/or an excessive amount, of books for their subject from this point forward.’_ It read.

A grand gesture had been done by the teachers of releasing their yearly costs for library texts for the past ten years as a result. The problem stemmed from the fact the DADA teacher’s way of teaching had him, at least every other week, given a homework assignment of acquiring shortly a particular book for their next area of study, declaring that he felt that the book in question was a required text in that case, waxing lyrical about how he’d learned from that book in his day.

The Ravenclaw students noticed that he rarely did more than dictated parts of the text in the class, with only the occasional slightly dim student failing to get his snap questions right just by listening to him, and created a more than acceptable facsimile of each book for a few sickles each, which was put into a fund for the next book in line, which was privately rewarded by McGonagall and Flitwick with a generous points bonus.

However, in a move which earned him the ire of Filus Flitwick, as well as the Deputy Headmistress herself, when he discovered that no-one actually bought the books, he first attempted to send Ravenclaw into points freefall for the audacity of their act, then required that they read a chapter and gave their opinions on it, gleefully taking points off most of the school as the books became more and more rare, and more and more expensive.

It had been the last straw when, in a single week, he took enough points off _every single student_, due to the book being out of print and circulation, that the points totals were zeroed out for all four houses. The heads of houses estimated, if he was not dismissed, they would not be able to issue the House Cup, since his point removals had actually exceeded the points granted by the entire rest of the school.

As a result, they’d called him to the Headmaster’s office, where he just sat there, looking annoyed.

“What kind of DADA teacher values how large their research library is, while ignoring the fact that, in many cases, they BARELY afforded the set books for the beginning of the year?” Flitwick had demanded, “You gave the largest points loss in over a decade to my Ravens for, and I quote, ‘facilitating students in failing to complete homework to a satisfactory level’...”

"If I give a reading assignment, I expect for the students to have actually read the book, and do not expect to find that the students were not cross-referencing, but flagrantly cheating with diction books!" The man had snapped, "What kind of prestigious school has them just copy rote?!"

“Since when was it a requirement for students, over the weekend, to send an owl order to Flourish and Blotts to empty out their meagre stocks of books?” McGonagall added, “You take hundreds of points off for ‘incomplete homework assignments’, when the only homework you give is endless study of research libraries which are dwarfing the Hogwarts Library itself!”

“You call that small room a Library?!?” The man laughed, “Where I learned my trade, we had every book we’d need, in ample quantities for the entire class, with the teacher just telling them they were studying a new subject the following week. None of this ‘set book’ business. I have to give that homework because you are too spendthrift to get the books yourself! I find your little announcement almost as much an insult as your so-called intellectuals making _fake_ books to cover your own inadequate acquisitions system!”

Last she’d heard, his old school had been investigated, and found to have purchased sometimes the entire print run of some magical volumes, only replacing books whenever they were reprinted and the differences were determined, by a special department of the school faculty, to have been reprinted for reasons which warranted a refresh of their library. The school itself was closed down, and the library was ordered, by the Ministry Of Magic, to, at no expense to Hogwarts itself, provide their copies of any book required for temporary loan.

The man himself had all his points decisions overturned, and was told that he was being dismissed at the end of the year. The books that had already been purchased were sent back to Flourish and Blotts for a full refund, and Madame Pince was in talks about recouping the school’s own costs. He’d gone back to his original lecture system and he was no longer allowed to take points off for a missing book.

However, until they released that massive library, she was forced to wander round a small alcove just off from the Restricted Section, colloquially known as the Out-Of-Circulation Bin, which contained books which no longer were part of regular circulation, due to everything from author death to one of the member nations of the ICW taking offence at part of the content.

As she looked through the books, her eyes were drawn to a shiny purple book that was wedged between a first edition copy of ‘_Most Potente Potions_’, marked “Too Potent, Hazardous in school environment”, and a book marked ‘_The Neverending Story_’, Tonks only knowing that it had “Portal Book. Do Not Read” taped to the front. Taking out the book, she looked over the title, ‘_Kinky Curses_’, she suspected it had been ordered as a prank and then promptly ‘misfiled’, especially considering it had no note attached.

She checked the copyright charms on it, to find it had been printed in the last year. Studying it more carefully, she frowned as she found that there was no signs of the usual tells of a library book, which confused her, since she otherwise could tell why it ended up there, the chaotic filing system only getting more so as students removed books arbitrarily just to find that single tome that would drop the points loss to just half as much. She walked up to Madame Pince, who looked up at her as she approached.

“Please refer to the card on the library entrance. I wish to also add that the Ravenclaws will be providing copies of the current books for all years until the end of the day, thanks to Professor Flitwick meeting with the trustees of a certain library collection,” Madame Pince stated, her lips pursed.

“It’s not just about that… But thanks for letting me know the Ravenclaw option is back in operation… I’m actually more here about a book I found in the, erm, Out-Of-Circulation Bin...” Tonks stated, handing over the book as she fidgeted. She knew Madame Pince hated that name for the area. Madame Pince just grunted, placing it on a rune-marked plate after checking both covers, before rechecking the inside cover.

“I have a feeling I know why that area ended up getting that name. I wish to note that it was originally named, when it was first set up, as the Limited Distribution Annex, with a blanket loan restriction forbidding them from leaving the library… OK, That’s odd… It’s got the usual anti-theft charms of an unsold book instead of the correct library charms. Do you have five sickles?” Madame Pince asked, accepting the money and going over to a dusty looking area, with a cash register, placing it onto a spot on the table next to it, and rang up a sale, before taking it to the plate from earlier, and smiling.

“The process is very specific with books that have those charms on them. Thankfully, we do have a sales area… Was originally for other reasons. With books that are… safe for distribution in the Limited Distribution Annex, I will be opening up that area after getting the charms changed.” Madame Pince explained, Tonks thanking her before fleeing while the librarian was in a charitable mood, noting later that day that a notice stated the Limited Distribution Annex was closed for refurbishment.

“So, What exactly is this odd book about anyway?” She wondered once she was back in her room, opening it to a random page, blushing hotly and snapping it shut, adding, “Ah… ‘_Kinky_ Curses’...”

She didn’t need to use her metamorph abilities to be red-faced as she regarded the book like it was some lethal weapon, eventually opening it again, this time beginning from the FIRST page...

According to the introduction, It had originally been an attempt at translating a japanese guidebook on creative ways to use charms during a particularly boring night, the writer adding several new suggestions they came up with during the original translation process. It advised strongly that use of the spells as a study aid was strongly not recommended, nor was use of them without a willing and receptive partner to deal with when the charms went wrong… or when they were far too right...

A query with Flourish and Blotts, as well as a guarantee it was only about the book in question, had her find that it had been only printed once, in a very limited print run, before the publishing house refunded the remaining publishing costs due to a ICW ban, citing subversive messages, which was vaguely a good reason for it ending up in that annex.

Looking for what might have caused the ban, she noticed none of the pictures were of men. There were plenty of images of women, most often one, but sometimes, on the more complex charms, two, but never any men.

Tonks knew now what ‘subversive’ message it had. Within a magical world where easily over 90% of political and influential people were male, a sexual aid book without a male dominance angle, and even more, a general message suggesting a man was far from required to enjoy a good night…

It was lucky to get that foreshortened print run. The book was intended as a witch’s way to enjoy her time with her girlfriend, lesbians and bi-curious only please, and actively encouraged said witch to use the spells to make sure that the relationship was more than successful.

It was also heavily abridged, the original planned book being longer, but, according to the writer, a ‘Lady Karina’, in an almost darkly hilarious note in the preface, “She had a feeling the male dominated society of today would find it offensive, purely since there’s no charms for a boyfriend to use to improve his sex life...”

Even with the abridged version she had, Tonks was quietly thankful she’d finished her work for that week, and had no classes the following day, since she didn’t truly get to sleep for several hours that night. Luckily, House elves were discreet, because her bed was a mess the following morning.

Several weeks later, shortly after her graduation, the book now somewhat dog-eared, Tonks arrived in Hogsmeade, at the location of Lady Karina’s shop, sandwiched between a pair of shops she’d passed by several times during earlier visits...  
She frowned. She’d been past here so many times, but had never seen the shop, with some enticingly tight shiny suits in the windows, before. She knocked on the door, her appearance shifted into an incredibly plain and generic girl who had graduated several decades ago, shortly after the changeover.

She was about to leave when a dark-haired woman opened the door, looking either way before ushering her inside, Tonks feeling a familiar sensation to whenever she went to Gringotts, the woman smirking as her change failed, and she was abruptly her real self.

“Book?” The woman stated, Tonks handing her the book, for her to look for something inside, “It’s genuine… So, Where was this copy secreted?”

“Hogwarts… The Limited Distribution Annex...” Tonks offered before asking, “Do you know how it got there?”

“Ah, the Out-Of-Circulation Bin… Expected as much, That’s the kind of place books like mine get discarded,” The woman stated, clearly having attended Hogwarts from her use of the term, “I personally distributed every single copy by dumping it in every place I could. I’ve only had five reports of them being burned, and three of them being ripped up.”

Tonks winced. She’d guessed that they’d likely been dropped where people might find them and read them, but to hear that…

She was interrupted from her musings by who she assumed was Lady Karina muttering something while waving her wand over Tonks’ head.

“Dominant leanings, bicurious, no girlfriends...” The woman listed off a piece of paper she was reading, then the piece of paper burst into flame as she continued, “Ms. Tonks, The advanced lessons in the full book require you to know your sexual preferences, outside of whether or not you’d date a girl if she asked...”

“How so?” Tonks asked, curiously, wondering what the paper had told her about.

“We begin with submissives… Girls like that will defer themselves to someone on a heartbeat. I’ve heard people call them humble or loyal... or even Hufflepuffs, in a rather derogatory way… but they are really a submissive at heart. Next we have the switches… They’re happy in any role, can play the seductive mistress or the dutiful servant whatever you need. After that we have those who dominate, who like to see a girl defer to them, who command, who are serviced...” Karina stated, sighing as she said, “Then we have my favourite type, the odd girl who worms their way into your life, loves being tied up, but they don’t ever submit, they just become so much more adorable just for the fact they wear a straitjacket so...”

Tonks stifled a laugh as Karina sighed happily, before asking, “So, that spell thinks I am the kind of person who would...”

“You’re like me… When you find the right girl, or girls, You’ll be able to give them everything they want and more…” Karina stated, somewhat firmly, “To a submissive, you’re that figure whose hand will guide them. To a switch, you’re that stabilising force that commands them when they need commanding. To those lovely kooky unclassifiable maelstroms, You’ll cuddle them into your lap wearing a nice new straitjacket, as they correct your translations and happily offer to help test some of them...”

“So, How was your girlfriend?” Tonks asked, guessing why Karina was so familiar sounding about the oddities.

“Perceptive little minx...” Karina stated, “Pandora was the greatest thing I ever found in the world. She was smart, lovely sense of humour and full of energy that you couldn’t restrain… She was bisexual, found an odd little man who took her away from my playroom, only to find a new hobby which took her away from both of us...”

She then paused, looking thoughtful.

“It’s because of Pandora that I won’t ever just sell someone a paddle, a whip or other barbaric tool like that...” Karina continued, “You make a girl feel that the greatest and most secure place in the world to sleep is your ‘spare’ trunk at the foot of your bed, or wrapped up like a gift to you on the bed, you’ll find that you both adore every moment you have with each other...”

She paused again, before her tone turned grave as she continued, “But you use harsh words, harsh measures and cruelty, and you will get devotion, you will get loyalty… but there will be no love, no care, no respect… For a dominatrix, you need to set up a safe word. Me and Pandora… If we ever had one, we’d both forgotten it by the time I lost her...”

A straitjacket then came out of the back room, as well as a pair of leather pants and a pile of other items.

“Now, Ms. Tonks, we begin with the first lesson… Restrictum...” Karina intoned, Tonks having only a few seconds before the pile of items were no longer stacked in front of her, as Karina took her into the back room, and the lessons began. When Tonks came out, it was with a new understanding of what Karina did. Now she just needed to find a girl who could scratch the needs which Karina had awoken in her. She didn’t even know that a series of curious... and very very _unfortunate..._ events would give her that girl and more…


	2. A Series Of Fortunate Events?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, Karina’s girlfriend was indeed Luna’s mother, which of course is foreshadowing for when Luna herself is introduced, which will throw a monkey wrench into Tonks’ nice safe situation. Also, The reason for a four-year gap is that the compulsory learning age slowly rose to 18 over several decades, and it took long enough to get the wizards to agree to moving the age of first education to fifteen. This has nothing to do with avoiding an underage rating.
> 
> From this chapter, you’ll understand how Lemony Snicket could be a character, and well, considering who uses the name, what the 'joke' is. And, fitting who Lemony Snicket is, it is anything but funny.
> 
> I wish to make this patently and blatantly clear. The actions done by Vernon Dursley, as well as some of the other things that happen with other characters, are terrifyingly plausible, especially in the 1980’s and 1990’s, _long_ before the law changed for the better. I didn’t like writing them, and hope you are disgusted as well.  
I deliberately do not go into great detail with them, because I do not want, or wish, to talk in detail about what is, in the modern world, outright illegal.

_ **A Witch’s Witch: An Introduction To Your First Girlfriend** _

_ **A little known fact about witches is that they have very perverted magic. A witch will be required to have sexual release often, because of an odd magical build-up that somehow doesn’t happen the same way with a wizard. ** _ _ **Theories include the fact that a pregnant witch will be providing the magical core for their child as well as the fact about two-thirds of pagan rituals involving women are also sexual in manner. Either way, Witches, as they get more powerful, will also find themselves needing to bring themselves to orgasm much more often than a normal muggle.** _

_ **A very little known fact is that, within some schools, and practically all covens, a witch is encouraged to engage in sexual intercourse with another witch, allowing both witches to attain a stable magical core at all times. In a lot of these cases, they will become a life partner, with the stabilising influence increased by this closeness. ** _ _ **It has been known for some witches to end up bonded due to the odd interactions this causes between their magical cores. However, information of this sort is highly controlled, and usually isn’t released to the general wizarding public.** _

_ **They prefer to think that only a man and woman can bond in such a beautiful way, with many stories involving a pair of witches in love having a male who they both defer to, both in the muggle and magical world, similar to how muggle fiction refuses to omit the man from relationships.** _

_ **\- Kinky Curses, Lady Karina, 1982** _

****In St. Brutus’ Secure Education Centre And Juvenile Hall, a young girl was scrubbing the floor, having been effectively ordered to do so rather than attend classes, for which she had been forced to make a token effort, outside of attending the photography classes as a model every week. Her normal uniform, if she could call it a school uniform, rather than the jumper and long skirt that was worn by the ‘full-time’ students, was a black blouse and short skirt, with the only extravagance being that she’d bought herself a pair of soft black boots which had become one of her favourite parts of not wearing the normal uniform.

She thought back to the last time she’d seen her aunt and uncle. She’d been walking round, completely nude, serving drinks and snacks, as her uncle discussed her time at the school, and how much would be exchanged between them for ensuring she got the right sort of education. All she knew about what happened with her aunt was that she took her aside as one of the men undid his belt, the same man having groped her several times, before stating firmly that she would not be able to attend the rest of the meeting due to looking tired. As she lay in her bed, she heard muffled yelling, followed by a sharp crack, then the sound of an ambulance arriving. She’d arrived at St. Brutus’ the following morning, and was given her uniform and requested firmly to clean out the attic. The man her aunt had stopped turned out to also be the headmaster. Things went downhill from there.

The latest problem with the headmaster had came after she’d asked to attend a meeting for the students involving a local policewoman coming to ask the students some questions, for him to tell her that ‘She was not a student’, something that had made her curious. The AV department’s head, one of several staff who enjoyed her company for altruistic reasons, asked for her to help with monitoring the sound levels, which co-incidentally meant she was able to hear the entire talk. How unfortunate. The officer was doing a talk about how she was taking statements about a local paedophilia ring which was operating in the area, and to look out for certain signs, and that she was looking for a young girl of around 10-12 years old who was featured rather prominently. As she described the girl, She threw up into the bin as her friend winced.

She’d described her perfectly. She then knew why the photography club and the students who were, supposedly, her class in the school, not that she’d actually attended more than a token couple of classes, usually during school inspections, were both away on a nature trail, that meant they completely missed the talk. Well, The headmaster always got advance notice on things like this, ergo no-one in the hall knew anything about her and didn’t recognise her at all. She decided to, spitefully, make a lovely scene by simply walking past the entrance. The policewoman’s expression was one of startled surprise, and she began talking on her radio, the headmaster hustling her out and telling her that she was not the same girl. She was far too old...

Photography club was abruptly cancelled for the rest of the year, and she was scrubbing one of the little known floors instead of attending classes. Apparently, the school board had called about something suspicious being found on the premises, and that the headmaster was to cooperate fully with the ongoing investigation, which meant she needed to be gone, urgently. She knew she’d not be on the premises when that investigation happened. She’d be somewhere else, with some of the headmaster’s friends, doing what she did at ‘photography club’, until the police had left, and Vernon could get the policewoman dismissed who thought she saw their petite and slim 'lolita'.

So, she wasn’t surprised when, less than halfway through the pointless task, made even more difficult by the fact the equipment she’d been given was basically a toothbrush and a rag, the headmaster’s assistant took her aside, placing her dress into a box, her boots going in their box. She was then surprised to be given a uniform as she looked over her crib sheet for what she was about to say. None of Vernon’s friends would want her in a uniform, and the crib sheet was all wrong for what she was expecting. This wasn’t the hand-off.

“Now, been on your best behaviour, Miss Baudelaire...” The assistant stated, with a half-smirk, half-smile as he placed her boots in their shoebox.

“Of course, Mr. Snicket. I think I have reached my happy ending though... Very unexpected, Very unexpected indeed,” She replied, using the same way of speaking she always did whenever he used the name, admittedly that even she had come to call herself it, and many of her school materials had the name on them. She entered the office, for the woman who was sat there to ask for her name.

“Violet Baudelaire,” She stated, firmly, the woman nodding, her mouth turning into a thin line. The headmaster was on the phone, talking to someone from the education board, about the nature of the woman’s visit, and seemed very angry, hanging up and looking towards the woman.

“As she said, she states her name is Violet.” The man stated. The woman smirked, as she took out an envelope, reading ‘V. Baudelaire, St. Brutus’ Juvenile Hall’ along with the rest of the address.

“And I happen to have an admissions letter for her as well. Fancy that.” The woman replied, “Meet me at the end of your classes, Ms. Baudelaire...”

The woman then left, with the headmaster telling her to finish those chores, and that her uncle would be over to pick her up shortly. Instead of that, however, the man, who she’d come to call ‘Lemony Snicket’, after the dour and apologetic narrator of the book she’d got her name from, told her to sit down as he listened to the conversation on the phone.

“What do you mean you have the cops on your street? I was sure we had another week!” He snapped, “I need you to pick up the girl and get her somewhere out of the way. I had a woman here, and she’s planning to collect her at the end of the day. One word – Hogwarts… What's that noise? Hello? Hello?”

“Oh my, I guess you were right, Ms. Baudelaire. Your happy ending _has_ just arrived. I never expected that to happen indeed. I guess I have one last passage to read...” Mr. Snicket stated, picking up his book, Violet just about noticing some kind of laminated card in his wallet as he told her to change her shoes, being given the box with her normal outfit in it. He hustled her out towards the back, where a bonfire had been started, the AV lady and all the staff who had not been part of the Headmaster’s policies towards her stood with him, the only male in the entire group.

“As Violet watched, the strange old woman approached, Her school life at the wretched place that had tried to destroy her going up in flames, the people who wrought those injustices upon her facing justice at last. Her uncle wasn’t coming to meet her, and the headmaster seemed to have his own problems…” The man stated, smirking as he held the book he'd got out for his supposed reading, “Who knew what was going to happen at Hogwarts? Not I, who would no longer be part of Ms. Baudelaire’s life, a simple bystander...”

He then closed the book, and she looked to notice that the old woman had indeed joined them, and did something with the book once he’d finished reading it, and the girl, who only knew of herself as Violet Baudelaire, did indeed watch as the teachers burned the text books and other study materials of a girl who only existed on paper. She completely missed that, on the opposite side of the school, blue lights flashed as the remainder of the teaching staff were arrested, having been found with evidence of their connection with Violet’s brush with child prostitution, or the man walking off to join his real colleagues, his tweed suit replaced with a police uniform. After she shared a brief speech with the teachers who had tried to teach her, the old woman gave her the book that gave her a name to go by, and, a few moments later, they were both gone.

As far as the police were concerned, Operation Snicket, as it came to be registered, was a complete success. That 'Violet Baudelaire' was going to a private school that was not sponsored by any of the men involved, and had student housing, was acceptable enough to close the book, figuratively and literally, on the case.

Since meeting Karina, Tonks earned herself an apartment over the store. Her rent payment was that, every few days, she’d been secured, using some new charm or merchandise that Karina hoped to sell, as she cajoled some new story about Pandora Lovegood out of Karina, promising that both, if Pandora had a daughter, she’d take her under her wing, and secondly, she’d sit down with Karina and tell her of what her playthings were like. A brand new trunk, firmly locked and spelled against accidentally opening, contained the items she’d use to ensnare, at least, her girlfriend, and possibly even more, both in a romantic sense and amount of girls.

When she wasn’t earning her rent, Tonks officially worked in the general store that was the disguise of Karina’s store when people wanted contact with her boarder, which is why she was pleasantly surprised to see McGonagall outside, letting her into the store after activating the charm that ensured McGonagall saw what she was meant to see.

“Why… Ms. Tonks, I didn’t expect to see you still living in the Hogsmeade area,” McGonagall stated, Tonks wincing as she knew why McGonagall had paused. Karina enjoyed changing her name to Pandora, even listing Tonks as such on the employment paperwork, and Tonks had almost asked the Ministry, and Gringotts, about changing it permanently. The fact that Karina had an alternate name for the store, Pandora’s Playthings And Paraphernalia, already set up was not anything to do with it. It had been considered long before Tonks arrived.

“A good friend gave me room and board in exchange for a sympathetic ear...” Tonks offered, “Still, I doubt you’re here about my housing arrangements...”

“No, No...” McGonagall responded, “I was looking for a sympathetic ear who also lives in the Hogsmeade area for a… largely abandoned staff position...”

“You’re exorcising Professor Binns?” Tonks asked, for McGonagall’s stern expression to slip quite noticeably.

“Oh no, no, no… Headmaster Dumbledore found that there’s a clause in the regulations concerning the Hogwarts ghosts that means we can’t deliberately attempt to exorcise any of them, and we just try to drop regular hints to him that his classes were outdated before the mid-40’s policy change… We’re working on changing the regulations, since it’s easier,” McGonagall offered, “This is about a different position, which a recent student visit has shown may well be needed...”

“Oh? Which position is that?” Tonks asked, confused, not knowing of any position that was empty. And both Potions and DADA weren’t largely abandoned. They were just largely useless and/or cursed. Completely different problem.

“We used to have a student councillor… Emphasis on ‘used’...” McGonagall explained, shaking her head as she continued, “Due to how little the students related to her and were willing to work with her, we found she stopped collecting her pay in the mid-70s. By the early 80’s, we found out that her office was completely bare, and she’d actually left without anyone noticing. Thankfully, she furnished her own office, and nothing was actually stolen,”

“So, Why are you reinstating what seems like such a worthless position, and what does it have to do with me?” Tonks asked, mentally face-palming at how they’d taken several YEARS to notice the councillor had literally up and left. Never mind that the councillor had enough time to move her entire office out while no-one was using her. Clearly no-one at all had likely used her.

“I cannot give the particulars, and you’ll probably find out when you take the position...” McGonagall stated, “Still, The basics are that, being a former student, having only just graduated yourself, and already are helping out your friend with a warm smile and an open-minded attitude, you have most of the qualifications we need. We do not need a mind healer, we need someone who can sit with a student casually and talk to them on their level. _After_ you have finished with them, then we’ll probably call in the mind healer and other specialists,”

“This sounds risky for me… What if I end up in a situation that steps outside the boundaries of my position as councillor?” Tonks offered, while mentally considering what she’d do to make her job that much easier, including finding every excuse possible to only do girls as her cases, “Would my transgressions end up the talk of the staff room?”

“We largely didn’t notice the original councillor was gone because she was never required to meet with the other staff. If you end up in a romantic entanglement with one of the students, It’s more likely to end up student gossip than staff room talk… and I think you know full well how bad student gossip can be...” McGonagall stated, handing over a sheet of parchment, “The only time you will be required to meet with the staff will be in case of a dispute or major incident, and the information will be kept to any heads of the faculty involved directly in said dispute, and all arbitration will be done in secret and with a majority vote on any actions taken.”

Tonks looked over the information McGonagall gave her about what she’d be expected to do, and the nature of the ‘limited’ oversight, which only concerned giving regular reports on what she observed about the students. She wasn’t going to lie, she was no psychiatrist. She couldn’t get into their heads like one, but she knew that they wouldn’t need one. A young woman around their age who could assume any form of warm and kind demeanour, and would always present a friendly face to those who needed one…

Adding the fact she’d, much easier than the classifieds, be able to find a young, impressionable girl who liked being tied up… or Pandora’s daughter, whichever came first… She could do this. She shook McGonagall’s hand, and smiled.

“Sure, I can start as soon as you need me to,” She declared. A few hours later, while snug in her favourite straitjacket, drinking hot chocolate using a levitation charm, she told Karina of the offer, and she smiled, and told Tonks to come back soon with the sweet young lady who needed their kind of TLC, so she can get fitted, and, even if Tonks wasn’t with them long term, to be funnelled through the correct channels. It was also at that time that Karina admitted she’d found another Pandora she cared about enough to not want to let her go.

Tonks hadn’t complained as she opened up the case, unfolding the straps as she guided her new favourite plaything into place. She had come too far with Karina to complain. Not long after that, Pandora Tonks was slid into a space in her bedroom closet, and the first of what Karina hoped was several drawers locked in place for the weekend, her fingers running over the nameplate. There would not be another Xeno. There would not be another James. She would not lose another deliciously deviant plaything...

Once she’d finished with ‘Violet Baudelaire’, who she was sure was the long missing Harriet Potter, understanding from reading the spent portkey how she ended up using the name, and hiring Tonks to attempt to get Violet to realize such at least, She expected a nice easy finish to her summer duties, until she got to the Grangers, who slammed the door in her face when she mentioned their daughter. She’d had to effectively read off Hermione’s acceptance letter to find where she was.

“Hello, Are you Hermione Granger?” She asked the brown-haired woman who answered the door, looking dishevelled.

“Yes, I’m Hermione...” The woman offered, letting her in, “So, What’s this about?”

“I’m here from Hogwarts School...” McGonagall began, for Hermione to open a book, frown, before going into an adjoining room. There was then an ear-splitting screeching sound like a banshee, Hermione coming in a few minutes later.

“Sorry about that… Hogwarts School For Gifted Students, Established in the 10th century, within the highlands of Scotland...” Hermione stated as she walked in with a sheaf of paper, “So, What about some remote school that isn’t even in the directory?”

“You have been enrolled...” McGonagall stated, taking out the admissions letter. Hermione transferred the paper to put it under her arm, as she took out a block of wood, turning it into a kitten as she was reading the top line, absent-mindedly giving the kitten a petting.

“Well, ‘Gifted Students’ should have clued me in to why… It’s a lie used in comics... except they use it with mutants, not magicals...” Hermione offered, “Anyway, Want to know why I’m in some apartment on my own?”

“I wouldn’t mind knowing, Yes...” McGonagall stated.

“Mum threw me out over a year ago,” Hermione explained, sighing. “I’m a lesbian, and she didn’t exactly appreciate finding out when I propositioned one of my classmates...”

Minerva winced. A Witch’s Witch. She’d be even more of a problem than ‘Violet’. There was a massive stigmata attached to them, and if she’d employed a male student councillor, there would be hell to pay. She decided to pretend she didn’t hear Hermione say that, that was until she wrote up Hermione’s private records for Tonks to look over, and continued her offer unfazed.

“Due to the Butler Act...” McGonagall began, Hermione going to a small bookcase with several books on law. McGonagall suspected she knew part of why Hermione knew them well.

“Ah, here it is… Let me guess...” Hermione asked, allowing McGonagall to confirm what she’d read.

“Since we do not teach any of the core subjects that are part of muggle education, we are classified as further education,” McGonagall supplied, “However, an amendment to the Butler Act done in 1947 requires that all magical students of 15 or above are transferred at the earliest available opportunity into our education system,”

“Can you provide room and board for us?” Hermione asked, as she called a phone number.

“We certainly have done so before...” She began, confused about the need for a phone call.

“Hello, Mother… Don’t hang up. It involves the nice woman that you probably slammed the door in the face of… Dresses like it’s Halloween, yes, her… I'm just calling to say she has something to tell you, mutually beneficial...” Hermione stated, before saying, “Tell her all about it...”

“OK, Well, Miss Granger, Your daughter...” McGonagall began. When she left, several hours later, she booked herself an evening with a bottle of scotch. She did not pity Tonks. One girl had not been called by her real name for so long, she’d adopted one from a girl who had almost as bad an upbringing as her, with her magic accepting the change as gospel, and the other was a girl who, over time, likely would become a hot bed of emotions that only another witch could deal with. If Tonks at least managed to get Violet to accept that, unlike the fictional Ms. Baudelaire, her future was going to be much better than her present, she’d be in good standing. If she got Violet to answer to the name Harriet Potter, that would be even better. And the less about Ms. Granger, the better.


	3. Forging Ahead On A New Path

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The reason I ended up calling Fem!Harry ‘Violet Baudelaire’ is due to the fact she is strikingly similar to the real one. In the Lemony Snicket books, Violet is an intelligent and somewhat inventive young girl who finds her life turned upside down when her parents die in a curious fire, and ends up surviving several sets of extremely ‘unfortunate’ events only due to the efforts of her, her brother and her baby sibling, despite the efforts of her uncle, Olaf, who only wants her alive as long as he can claim her inheritance.  
Uncle Vernon never gave Harriet a name, so, when she came to attend St. Brutus’, she adopted the name of the heroine of a recent book she read who was the only person she could think of that had a situation that was even mildly worse than she had. The only person who knew she wasn’t Violet Baudelaire by birth was the undercover investigator, who relished the cover name of ‘Lemony Snicket’, and got to embrace the role of such, as the narrator of the terrible tale, fully before he was encouraged to discard it.

_ **Violet Harriet ** _ _ **Lily** _ _ ** Baudelaire-Potter – Born 31** _ _ **st** _ _ ** July, 1980** _

_ **The Girl Who Survived. Notable for, when she found out her parents were killed in suspicious circumstances, only for her to be sent to live with her uncle, the fact that all she did was laugh her head off. No-one knows why she found it hilarious to be put in such a terrible situation. Notably, despite all the hardships she has to go through, from bigotry to many purebloods attempting to hex her in the back over killing the Dark Lord, she just tells anyone ‘I’m Violet Baudelaire. My life has always been one big series of unfortunate events… Why should I feel otherwise?’** _

_ **When the name Baudelaire was researched, to discover why she used the pseudonym more than her natural name, the researcher went slightly pale and lost himself in several bottles of firewhiskey, muttering that, ‘Yes, she had every right to laugh at the injustices of the world, since ANYONE named that fell well below the radar of any competent agency’.** _

That year, in every compartment of the Hogwarts Express, a pair of rollers slid a tube of parchment underneath a dicta-quill, recording every bit of gossip, random trivia and discussion of the coming year, the information reappearing on a near-identical setup in Pandora Tonks’ office, only stopping when there was no-one there to be overheard. At that time, the office copy was magically cut off, the parchment reset as it was checked for certain key words and phrases, before being sorted by a special filing spell.

This one frivolity was the key to Tonks managing to be able to do her job, giving her a shockingly large amount of information on every student before they even walked through the door, and was key to how she was going to handle the job without any actual professional training. She’d given over half the parchment to the Headmaster with copies given to the Heads of House for observation of what she’d deemed problem areas, due to a multitude of things she didn’t think were part of what she was meant to be working with, or particular phrases cropping up far too often.

Mudblood, Dark Mark and Voldemort were among the words which got the used parchment sent to the Headmaster immediately, while the rest was dependent on the students in question and what they said.

“What is the purpose of so much diction? I have over a dozen rolls of parchment on my desk from you!” Snape asked, “You seem to have recorded every single student!”

“We have a failed attempt to set up a marriage contract between the Malfoys and the Potters, as well as the planning of half a dozen assassination attempts on the same girl... Count yourself lucky. McGonagall has knowledge of the first week’s planned pranks by the Weasley Twins to deal with...” Tonks stated as she sat in a meeting organized, ostensibly, on Snape’s suggestion about the dictation machines, before she paused, looking round the room, “The important thing is simple.”

“Oh, do tell...” Snape drawled.

“That’s just the basics, Professor. If the students use every moment they think is private to begin a campaign of bullying against a student, or similar things that need quick, decisive action, We make sure _nowhere_ is truly private!” Tonks snapped back, pointing to where a discussion about the potential return of Voldemort was transcribed, “You want me to take away those devices, allow them privacy, when we have things like this being discussed?”

“Catch the problem in it’s infancy, you already have plenty of evidence while it’s in the planning stage!” Flitwick had crowed, which had lead to an agreement that the house elves would place these recorders in the offices of the teachers, meaning even a student dispute with a teacher wouldn’t take half as long to resolve, since Dumbledore, at least, would have the truth right there beside him. Snape had not shown support for it, but he was outvoted by far. Once they’d left, She sat back down, looking over the roll she’d been studying.

“Speakers identified: V. Baudelaire (Potter?), H. Granger.” She’d wrote at the top of her abridged copy. She’d found her opening cases. Now she just needed to get their attention, and confirm what she thought she’d seen. She’d managed to keep any of this scroll from the teachers, due to none of the subject matter being rated as high risk. However, that also meant that they might not end up with her at all...

“Violet Baudelaire...” McGonagall announced, for several muggleborns to look towards the first years. She smirked about the fact that several of them wondered if she had an evil uncle, and that she definitely looked like she’d been orphaned. And she’d not even needed to fabricate either of those things. It did cause McGonagall to look at her funny when she heard the nature of how she’d come to live with the Dursleys and only started laughing. When she put on the hat, she felt it’s face crease into a frown, as it gave a rather muted cough.

“Well, That explains the name,” It stated, “I’d say ‘Things like that only happen in tragedies’, but you are, as far as you are concerned, Violet Baudelaire. Bad luck dogs your every step… Either version of you. If you were sorted into Slytherin, you’d possibly leave in a pine box, if they even found the body. Hufflepuff, You’d achieve nothing of note, but you’d also be nothing of note. Ravenclaw. You stand out too much...”

After a short period, she ended up in Gryffindor. When Hermione sat down next to her, she looked at her, Violet looking back at her.

“You do know they’re going to ask...” She stated, for her to get up, McGonagall wondering why, for her to ask for a voice amplification spell.

“Yes, my parents were killed in very suspicious circumstances, Yes, I used to live with my frankly cruel and despicable uncle. I wish to note that the police are more efficient than in the book.” Violet stated, pausing and writing out something before counting on her fingers, “Differences are that I am an only child, he was only vaguely aware of my family’s financial situation, and he was already married. Also, He went by the name Vernon, not Olaf, and was a drill salesman, not an actor.”

She then cancelled out the spell, the purebloods wondering what she meant, while the muggleborns talking amongst themselves about the fact that she’d just confirmed the basic credentials of being a Baudelaire. Namely, She was not going to have a good time at Hogwarts, but at least it wasn’t due to an evil gold-digging uncle. She’d been there, done that, got the Police onto him...

The last time she’d heard from her uncle, it was when he used his one phone call to berate her for ruining a perfectly good opportunity, and he’d sue her for every penny she ever owned. She’d just answered sweetly, her last words ever to him, _‘Goodbye, Uncle...’_

When she’d gone to Gringotts, She’d discovered part of what her accidental magic had done. Whoever this ‘Harriet Potter’ she had once been was, when she’d done an identity test, she showed up as ‘Violet H. L. Baudelaire’, with several checks that it was her key, but her name had magically changed. The one thing that had stayed, even when she’d put on her school robes, was her boots. She liked her boots. They were comfortable. The dress code covered them…

Well, more that no-one asked before, and they were sensible footwear…

...and they matched everything she owned. As she was looking down the teachers, wondering who’d be labelling her as a miscreant and/or a persistent truant, the latter being simply by not putting the class on her timetable, She overheard one of Dumbledore’s announcements.

“From this year forward, we are piloting a School Counsellor position. She will be meeting with any students who have problems in her office, and sometimes may well notify your Head Of House if she has noticed a problem in the making,” He had announced, “All interviews and sessions with students will be treated with the utmost care and responsibility, and will remain confidential, with only the Heads Of House and myself consulted if absolutely necessary,”

“So, Violet, you going? Your _life_ is one big problem!” One of the Hufflepuffs asked, Violet's face creasing into an uneasy grin.

That’s what brought her to be outside the office of one Pandora Tonks, knocking on the door. A few moments later, a young woman looked out of the door, looking up and down it, before looking down, as she realised why she didn't see them at eye level. “Ah, Ms. Baudelaire. The fictional version of your nom de plume would be a case study in how not to handle orphans. You just prove that even in the real world, some people are blind to injustice...” The woman stated, “Anyway, Come on in… You’re the first real case I’ve got so far. Most of the rest of the people who come to talk to me it’s sent off to be dealt with as part of disciplinary action...”

As Violet went inside, an odd looking bat-eared creature appeared, handing her some parchment, for her to get another piece out as she frowned, muttering about ‘_I don’t care if he’s your godson!_’

“Dear Severus, Will you please _properly_ control Draco before I have to take action myself?” She dictated, “I gave you information on a flagrant attempt at bullying, as well as several things which, if not controlled now, could lead to some very severe repercussions. However, according to my own records of your meeting with Draco, you basically gave him the proverbial slap on the wrist. If I have to continue notifying you, I will have no choice but to elevate it to the Headmaster, as well as Deputy Headmistress McGonagall. To put it politely, _Do your job before I do it for you!_”

“What was that all about?” Violet asked as the creature disappeared with the reply, for Pandora to sigh.

“Draco’s the kind of person who wants everything and anything served up to him, no questions asked, a silver spoon wedged in his mouth, really annoying to deal with… I got three feet of him whining about how he wasn’t able to engineer folding the Potter family into his own in my in-tray almost as soon as he got to the common room...” Tonks stated, pausing, “Make of that what you will, but I do this not for controlling alpha personalities who aren’t able to get… Oh, for crying out loud...”

She paused, eyerolling as she looked over the parchment that had appeared.

“Thankfully, I never told him _where_ I put the diction device that just recorded him completely ignoring my message,” Tonks sighed, before, looking at Violet, she brightened up slightly, “Now, back to you. I am not here to deal with people like Draco Malfoy. I help people who can’t help themselves, I’m here to help you. And if I get another foot of parchment with him asking where the hell Harriet Potter went, and Snape just telling him...”

“Ahem...” Violet stated, taking out a sheet of parchment with a Gringotts seal on it, “I might be able to help with that,”

“Seriously?” Tonks stated, “Seal checks out… This is an official document, naming the bearer as… Oh, right. Magically changed your name, Yes. Still won’t tell him, but thank you for solving that dispute,”

“Are you still going to listen to me though?” Violet asked, for Tonks to smile, calling the bat-eared creature again, and giving it the parchment, telling it to wait for further instructions, for it to disappear, and a strange device, consisting of a quill suspended over some parchment, was placed next to her as she sat back down.

“You’re humble, kind and selfless, I kinda like that in a girl, so, of course I’m going to help you… Now, Let’s start at the beginning...” She stated, letting the quill drop before she declared, “In the beginning, there was a big explosion, the remains of which becoming the stars. Around the stars formed planets… Whoops, that's _way_ too early,”

Harriet blinked several times, Tonks giving a crooked grin before the line vanished, and she motioned for Harriet to start talking.

“OK, Well, It all began when I was six years old. My Uncle felt that the best thing for me would be ‘proper discipline and hard graft’...” Harriet began, Tonks only half hearing it after an hour. This wasn’t just bad. This was positively horrific. No wonder she had taken on the name she had. And she thought Lemony Snicket was a horrifying read, even for a muggle, but this made that book look like a paragon of virtue. Wizards joked about the bad times of Salem, but this was real life. Somehow, by no fault of her own, Harriet Potter, now Violet Harriet Lily Baudelaire, had fell right into the hands of one of the despicable men that started the practice all those years ago.

Dumbledore wondered what was going on as a newly installed picture of the four Founders fled, shortly before the picture itself was banished to show a clearly furious Tonks on a communications mirror, her hair having the colour and appearance of rolling flames. Clearly something _other_ than the ongoing dispute between her and Severus Snape about her apparent singling him out was going on, since she would have sent parchment. Five seconds later, the house elf arrived with the parchment. Oh, she _did_ send parchment as well.

“Oh dear, It’s only been a few hours, Amazing device that… Ahem, What seems to be the problem?” Dumbledore asked, surprised at another of Tonks’ little frivolities which was bearing bitter fruit. She was bringing the position she’d been given up to date pretty well. But he didn’t expect that she’d hidden a communications mirror in the new portrait she’d given him. Now he knew why she’d done it, and _hadn’t_ told anyone. A private line right to his office, allowing her to do things like this.

“I want your pet Death Eater in your office NOW!” Tonks snapped, “Also, You’ll need McGonagall. From what I’ve heard, she already knows, but she is the Head Of House for the subject student...”

“Ahem, Student and problem first...” Dumbledore began, as he collected the sizeable roll of parchment, along with an official Gringotts document, wondering why that was there.

“A Series Of Unfortunate Events, including child abuse, child abandonment and prostitution, starring Violet... Harriet... Lily… Baudelaire...” She began, enunciating each part of the name, letting the last part hang for a moment, before finishing with, “POTTER.”

“We’re in the dragon dung...” Dumbledore sighed, sending the messages. When he’d given Tonks the job, he only knew that there was some risky students coming in the upcoming year, but how was he to know the erstwhile Violet Baudelaire, who was earning the nickname of The Unluckiest Witch In The World, even _before_ anything had happened, was the new name of the lost Harriet Potter?

“I was expecting Ms. Baudelaire to cause my summoning as soon as you announced the position Tonks would be taking. While not under a fidelus, her full name is need-to-know.” McGonagall stated, smirking like the cat who got the cream.

“So, What is so important about her full name?” Snape grumbled, accepting and opening the Gringott’s communique, “She’s a hard-luck story, end of...”

As he got to the name, the paper dropped from his hands as he turned a shade of pale. He’d heard her little performance for the muggleborns, not linking the comments to what he knew of Vernon Dursley. However, this clinched it. Lily’s daughter had ended up turned into a real-life version of one of the muggle world’s most tragic orphans, and he couldn’t deny that he was horrified by the fact. He was among the handful of people who had read that accursed book and not laughed.

“Please describe the reason you expected Tonks to meet Ms. Baudelaire-Potter, Minerva...” Dumbledore stated, as Snape cursed under his breath.

“She prefers to just use Baudelaire, but Violet was a recommendation for Ms. Tonks due to the fact she was in what the muggles refer to as ‘Juvie’, also known as a school for juvenile delinquents. She was scrubbing the floor after undermining the Headmaster’s supposed authority, when I found out later that she’d actually been sold to the Headmaster for use in some even more horrifying ways, Ways she was encouraged not to bring up to anyone.” Minerva stated, Snape raising an eyebrow. That was the most insane thing he’d ever heard.

“Someone does not just happen to end up in Juvenile Hall,” Snape stated, “I sure hope you are exaggerating...”

“Unfortunately not...” McGonagall stated, as she took out a newspaper, handing it Snape, “I also wish to point out further investigation may well be difficult under the Statute’s limitations...”

“Let’s see… ‘St. Brutus’s Closed Amid Contraversy’...” Snape read, initially bored, then his eyes rose, and, once he’d finished, all he did was slowly return the paper to Dumbledore, before falling into the chair the students used for meetings with the Headmaster, sobbing. Both of them knew, at that point, he was ready to meet with Violet.

Violet meanwhile was having some lunch, having relaxed immensely after Pandora let her know that she was getting help, and to request anything she wanted off the ‘house elf’. She jumped, startled, as the nearby fireplace lit by itself, the flames changing colour before Dumbledore, Snape and McGonagall entered the room, Dumbledore holding a slim folder.

“What happened, with you… Ms. Baudelaire, I’m sorry to say, is that, in our hurry a decade and a half ago,” Dumbledore stated, “...was that a vetting process we normally use for orphans such as yourself was found flawed and inadequate.”

He was surprised when she laughed lightly, confused as to why she would find something like that funny.

“I’ll add that to the list of comparisons…” Violet mused, before adding, as if to explain, “Both me and the fictional Violet were subject to inadequate vetting of our uncles, and a generally inept bureaucracy… If the head of that department is overworked, largely useless and seemingly is ignorant of the problem, even more so...”

“Ahem. We will not go into whether that comparison is true. But, What happened is that some of us didn’t realize that your uncle was very much… for lack of a better term, ‘The Worst Sort Of Muggle’… He will be put in the latest Muggle Studies textbook in the section on ‘Modern Examples of Witch Finders’” McGonagall continued, “We’ve had to deal with their kind a few times over the years, the ones who feel, sometimes due to jealousy, sometimes due to some unperceived sleight, an unflinching need to destroy or eliminate The Witch...”

“Salem,” All of them stated at the same time, crossing their hearts as they considered a shared knowledge of one of the magical world’s worst times.

“That was one of our worst times, due to an overall case of fear mongering, with the ‘Witch Finders’ being almost wholly made up of these kinds of muggle…” McGonagall concluded, “Your uncle was an irredeemable monster to our kind, while Petunia was, initially, a mild case, purely jealous of the fact she ‘squibbed out’ than anything else, but Vernon just amplified it by existing in the same area… Witch Finders do that, just by existing, unfortunately. We are monitoring him for the potential that he could create a mob, but so far...”

“A Squib is a rather outdated term for a child who, when magic manifests in a line, has been found to have failed to show signs of magic within the period between 5 and 11,” Pandora explained, “A line is considered to have squibbed out when all known heirs to the line only give non-magical children, so there is no magical lineage remaining,”

“I will admit that your mother created a blood sacrifice ward upon you, which would, in theory, have protected you from harm,” Dumbledore stated, “However, when you consider you were in the family of a Witch-Finder and a Squib, such defences were worthless. The only thing that I am happy about in this case is that your Uncle was arrested for his part in the actions against you… If he’d not been arrested, people like the men he had monitoring you would have likely rendered you a squib,”

“What the teachers were hiding from you when they did that bonfire, by the way, Violet, was that…” McGonagall started, pausing before she continued with, “Mr. Snicket was part of an undercover sting operation attempting to discover the ring leader of a recent spate of criminal activity. Any of the staff not at that bonfire were lead away by the police, and your uncle was fingered by practically all of them...”

“So that’s what the card was about...” Violet mused, “So, Even in reality, Lemony Snicket was more than just a random onlooker… I wonder if I’ll ever learn his real name...”

“Headmaster, A word...” Snape stated, Harriet hearing Dumbledore mutter ‘removed in the penultimate revision’ and ‘last name, but you were listed’, before he stated, “Pandora, we have some things to discuss that are not, right now, for Harriet’s ears. If things go as expected, your remit, in this case, may be extended...”

“You finish your lunch...” Pandora stated, before they all left her to it. Violet didn’t even know it, but, at that time, her whole future changed for the better. For once, Violet Baudelaire found the sympathetic ear she always craved...


	4. Hermione Holmes In The 20th Century

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Elements of Hermione’s deductive reasoning © DHX Media. The rest © Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. and are used with the utmost respect.  
Author’s Note: Concerning how easily Pandora Tonks got away with faking it, most of the nastier details of Harriet’s case were already dealt with, Dumbledore is largely clueless and McGonagall is short-sighted in some ways. All they saw was that she was doing a great job of helping Harriet, and will continue to do so, as she breaks down the barriers Harriet has, and makes her see that deference and servitude can be a good thing. Of course, That will be both good and bad going forwards…  
And isn’t there another case? Yes, we’re going to throw a brunette spanner in the works! And yes, I totally, and completely intentionally, base Hermione’s mannerisms on Sherlock Holmes both in common lore and the series _Sherlock Holmes In The 22nd Century_.
> 
> This is Part 1 of 2 for this part of the story, so they are being posted effectively back-to-back, as we learn how Hermione Granger became _Hermione **Holmes...**_

_ **Hermione Irene Adler Holmes – Born: September 1979** _

_ **A consultant, by her own declaration, ‘Lady Holmes’ is notorious with those who know her for the fact that if there’s something that needs investigating, she will investigate it, and invariably will discover something no-one else did, at the seeming behest of the Auror Department, who are exasperated by her deductions. Partially since she’s almost always ** _ **right.**

_ **Within the muggleborn community, a lot of them can recognise her from purely a deerstalker hat and pipe that she is never seen without. She did mention, in passing, to someone that her picking up a violin ** _ ** is ** ** _ considered a form of torture, and she has a bad habit of calling people nicknames, like Amelia Bones being ‘Lestrade’, and, as part of a private joke, Pandora Tonks as 'Moriarty'. We do not know why, not recognising either name._ **

While Violet had her lunch, a meeting occurred in a nearby classroom, concerning the complete and utter failure in handling the future of the girl in Pandora’s office.

“First things first, Whoever gave you the new first name of Pandora, I thank them. Like the mythical Pandora’s Box, your appointment has done nothing but cause more and more to come to light that we cannot avoid, we cannot ignore, and your literal boxes are not something to be treated lightly,” Snape stated, “Things like Draco Malfoy and Violet… If you were not present, they would not be noticed until it was far too late, and we would have only ourselves to blame...”

Tonks nodded, understanding what he was trying to say.

“Secondly, Dumbledore… very recently let me know that I was originally one of the names of people who were considered as a potential guardian for Ms... Baudelaire,” Snape offered, “Due to various reasons, we were unable to consult the list at all when she was to be adopted. However, this time, we will not make the same mistake, even with the fact that we cannot use the list at all...”

She looked confused at what he was saying, and what he was insinuating, and was rendered even more confused when Dumbledore added, “How would you consider your relationship with Ms. Baudelaire?”

“Right now, pretty damn good. She trusts me, thinks the world of me for simply not following the pattern of people she previously had to deal with, who were conniving bastards who were raising her to be blind and deaf to what they would be doing to her,” She stated, her hair reddening, “Her physique is the way it is… I don’t want to go into why that is...”

“No, Let’s not...” McGonagall stated, “The terms I’ve had to look up to figure out what that man was telling me about her… I almost wish I didn’t have to,”

“Depending on what happens in the near future, I may well have her move in with you on a permanent basis,” Dumbledore stated, “The particulars of the arrangement will not be made public. However, I will state that, for the foreseeable future, she will not be staying in the Gryffindor dormitories. That is for certain. Until otherwise told, she is staying with you here, and will require sleeping arrangements as such. A trusted adult caring for her will begin to help with repairing our mistakes...”

Pandora tried to school her features. She had unrestricted access to a particularly impressionable young woman, and her case file meant that she’d be easily swayed to the kind of lifestyle Karina encouraged. But she couldn’t just introduce it unfiltered, because she _would_ lose her job if there was even a sniff of unprofessional conduct.

However, if she managed to get through the temporary nature of a lot of what she was doing, and pitch the ideas that were already planned upon what Dumbledore had just told her, she’d have a lovely plaything to while away the time as she waited for another perfect case to drop into her lap. She didn’t know that she didn’t have to wait long.

Violet looked up as Pandora walked back in, surprised to notice she didn’t have her colleagues with her.

“So, What did he have to say?” She asked, “I bet you’re in trou...”

“Oh… No, I’m not in trouble, It was some private information that will affect the situation going forward...” Tonks stated, cutting her off, pausing as she noticed Violet’s footwear for the first time, “So, What’s with the boots? I’m sure that Hogwarts never put them on the list of items...”

“Oh, they’re one of the few times I actually got to make my own choices...” Violet explained, “Since they go well with almost everything I own, no-one’s yet had any good reason to tell me to change them...”

“Hmm… Passive sizing charm, self-applied I suspect...” Tonks stated as she waved her wand over them, Violet shrugging, “Accidental magic works like that. Bet they never wore out, got scuffed or seemed tight on you...”

She nodded, Tonks smiling back at her. She'd never discourage Violet from wearing the boots, since she magically was adjusting them to avoid wearing them.

“Later, we’ll get you a few more pairs of matching ones, even if you don’t wear them, so you don’t just wear the exact same boots all the time...” Tonks stated, “For now, Maisie...”

There was a soft pop, Violet blinking as Maisie appeared, realising that it was the house elf that had been helping so often. “Go get Violet’s trunk and ask Madame Pomfrey about if we can borrow a privacy curtain and a bed,” She stated, waving towards a practically bare corner of the room, “Set them up there.”

“What’s that about?” Violet asked as the area was abruptly cordoned off by the curtain, which now was a rudimentary sleeping area.

“One of the things they discussed...” Pandora stated, “Due to the sensitive nature of your case, you’re staying here for the foreseeable future. Now, Can you change into that dress they had you wearing?”

Violet looked confused, but did so. She then yelped as it changed, becoming a very adorable lace-trimmed dress that she had to say was a huge step up from the original dress, Pandora not wanting to bring up that it was a 'gothic lolita' styled dress. The L-word wouldn't be used near her for a while.

“Now that’s much better on you… Go to your classmates,” Pandora stated, scribbling down a note that excused her from the dress code for now. If she had a choice, she’d excuse her from it for a lot longer than a frivolous afternoon and evening. While adding a nice armbinder harness and hobble chain. And maybe a nice matching style of collar...

But she couldn’t just do that. She’d been lucky so far. If they knew she’d be taking advantage of the oh-so-delicious deference that Violet’s uncle had given her, and making her into a complete submissive, she’d be out of there faster than you could say ‘Snitch’…

...and she’d probably never see the Girl Who Survived in such cute attire ever again.

Meanwhile, Hermione wasn’t sure what was going on. She’d got to know the mysterious Violet Baudelaire on the train, and her heart had gone out to her, being the embodiment of one of the most tragic characters in modern writing history. She’d been reluctant to do anything that could get herself noticed, muttering about expecting to be punished or put in detention almost constantly. She’d been like a porcelain doll, except one that had a lot of very bad owners, and if she had been porcelain, she’d likely be marred by cracks.

If Hermione had access to a phone or similar, she’d have contacted child services, but installing telephone lines to Hogwarts would breach the Statute Of Secrecy, and the phone reception otherwise was terrible, and that was before you brought magic into the mix. The girl she knew was quiet, unassuming and only answered questions with terse, fearful answers. All that changed when she disappeared shortly after the opening feast, with the Headmaster and Deputy Headmistress being out literally the entire afternoon.

When she returned, she was dressed so much like a doll that, during History of Magic, she’d inadvertently picked up Violet, and cuddled her close, dozing off with the equally sleepy Violet in her lap, Professor Binns not even noticing that it had happened. Admittedly, according to one of the other students, he wouldn’t notice a bomb going off. Their twin mentioned testing it using a firework in a sealed box. He’d not even reacted. He had briefly reacted to an odd irregular warbling tone, but that was it. And that was the first and only time he seemed to have any kind of reaction...

Her dreams now had the conflicted pattern of having her sleeping with her new favourite doll, and graduating from cuddles to something more intimate. The one annoying thing about those was that Violet had been given an exclusion from the rules concerning the use of the Gryffindor dormitories, and even more annoying, she’d been also excluded from History Of Magic, with a note being sent to Hermione that she was not to blame, and that was one of the first times someone actually cared about her like that. Instead the blame was given as being since the entire class still slept through the whole lesson, and didn’t actually learn anything.

After Violet passed out with a splitting headache during her first DADA class, she also dropped out of those classes, with McGonagall telling them that the Headmaster was aware of the situation and had been monitoring it. A quick query had her find out that almost all of Violet’s free time was spent with the new school councillor. Sure, Violet needed therapy, She’d heard her story on the train, but this level of it… It was not professional, and she needed to know why she was with the counsellor practically all the time.

“Due to unforeseen circumstances pertaining to Violet’s specific case, Ms. Baudelaire is effectively a long term guest of Ms. Tonks. Any complaints about her monopolizing her time should be voiced to her in person...” McGonagall had stated, adding, as an aside, “I’m surprised you haven’t gone to talk to her about your _own _family problems...”

Hermione had hastily made an excuse and fled from the office. She didn’t need the counsellor, Dammit! She was perfectly fine!

It was the beginning of the following week that Hermione arrived outside Tonks’ office, having finished her homework the previous night. She knocked on the door, calling out for Tonks.

“Fuck… Goddammit… What were the wand movements again?… Ahh, Here it is...” She heard from the office, Hermione quietly wondering to herself how come someone like that was the school therapist. Once the door opened, she knew part of the reason. Students would be a lot more open with their thoughts to someone their own age, and Hermione mentally cursed. She had a new wet dream coming, she knew it. Tonks was mature, but also pretty in a way that captivated her. This would make her plan so much harder.

“Excuse me, but has Ms. Baudelaire been doing a session with you today, or doing anything else here?” Hermione asked, looking round and spotting several items which seemed out of place. She already had a picture forming, but she had to check with the only other person there.

“Not at this moment. She’s currently a bit tied up with something...” Tonks offered, “Come to think of it, I think I have a folder about you too… Want to do a session?”

Hermione paused, mentally cursing. She didn’t want to do a session with Tonks right now, even if it was under her remit as a therapist to order her to do one. It would bring to light things which would be very difficult to avoid causing both of them no end of trouble, and that was if she avoided accidentally flirting with her. If that happened, someone would end up in trouble, and she doubted Tonks would last the year.

“...No, No, Not really,” Hermione rapidly answered, “I’m here because I’m worried about Violet, since we don’t see her very often in the Gryffindor Dormitories...”

“Yes, and you really would love a nice doll to cuddle with at night, and she's not around...” Tonks stated, “You present an interesting situation, in regards to Violet, and I’m not surprised you’re interested in her. She goes from this shy, slim pale skinned waif who won’t speak two words to anyone to a very pretty doll which you can’t help but snuggle with… I should know. Good book, Violet in my lap, always makes it a great book,”

Hermione realised at that point she was caught. Tonks had begun the session before she’d done more than give her name, and she just allowed herself to be lead to a chair and sat down, knowing she was having a session whether she liked it or not.

“I met her on the train, she seemed so...” Hermione began.

“Lost, Lonely… Even with Rhonda being there to help overshadow the small figure who was trying not to be noticed in the hubbub of the train, You already had noticed her...” Tonks continued, “Didn’t help when Rhonda went to go deal with some berk of a Slytherin telling you to manually find Neville’s toad… He lost fifty points for what he did...”

“Who told you that story?!? Violet was asleep, I checked!” Hermione declared, blushing scarlet at being reminded of the incident, where she’d wasted almost half an hour of premium quality Violet time looking for a toad. Tonks smirked mentally. Undoubtedly she checked. She certainly would.

“I have my ways of knowing what happens in normally private places...” Tonks stated, “Plus I’ve had to deal with them before. Can spot a newblood from a mile off, and pretend to forget Accio just for a lark. Also, being the school counsellor, plus Violet’s...”

She trailed off, but Hermione now had the last piece, and knew exactly why Violet spent so long with Tonks. She’d seen the rack of dresses in Violet’s size, and her new style, plus no-one else in the school used black soft boots as footwear. She wasn’t just doing sessions here, she was living here!

“You’re her carer, aren’t you?” Hermione stated, Tonks now the one cursing, “Violet stays here, in a safe and protected environment, and you act as a sounding board for her problems. She doesn’t take History Of Magic since both of you feel the teacher is useless, and after she passed out in DADA, she was given tutoring here in both classes...”

“So, Lady Holmes, How did you figure me out?” Tonks asked, Hermione going pink at the nickname, “McGonagall has been keeping queries about Violet discreet, and Violet herself hasn’t talked about it...”

“Eyes and brains, Tonks, Eyes and brains...” Hermione responded, deciding to rise to the nickname, standing up and beginning pacing, “Let’s begin with the obvious, Violet is categorically not attending History Of Magic or DADA, and it’s not that hard to notice she doesn’t use the dorms. A discreet questioning on her location comes up with your office practically all the time. Add to this that her clothes are here, which would not make sense if she was here just for therapy. In fact, I’m suspicious about whether or not Violet is very far from here right now...”

“Keep to the subject, Lady Holmes, but very good, and as right as I can say without breaching confidentiality agreements...” Tonks stated, “She does live here, but I can't say anything else. You will be a challenge...”

“And if you were able to beat this ‘challenge’? What would you do?” Hermione asked with a smirk. She always enjoyed dealing with things like this, and Tonks had given her a good challenge herself.

“That’s for me to know, Lady Holmes, but you will make for some good entertainment!” Tonks declared, “Now, be off with you. Go solve why the DADA teacher acts like he does, that is a proper case for a detective, not what the therapist does with your classmate!”

Hermione contemplated solving the case of the mysterious DADA teacher, but decided against it when she confirmed her own suspicion. Violet had been in the room shortly before she entered, and she’d deliberately left out the fact she’d noticed Violet’s bed was not in use. She hated not knowing something, It was so annoying. And it meant that she couldn’t focus on the challenge Tonks gave her until she figured out the rest of the puzzle.

However, a few days later came the more annoying moment. She'd found a note tucked into one of her books, reading ‘_Holmes, Meet me at the usual location, Tomorrow at 9am. Moriarty’_, clearly written by Tonks, who'd done the 'answer' to her taking up the mantle of 'Holmes'. When she arrived, Violet was, most notably, actually present.

“So, What brings you to call me here, ‘Moriarty’?” Hermione asked, “Is it the fact you kept me from finding Violet last time?”

“No, No… She finds the whole thing hilarious. I had to use a silencing charm so we could talk properly!” Tonks stated, Violet chuckling again while Hermione noted that a silencing charm would mean she _was_ in the room that day, but where... That wasn't allowed to be known, “But that’s not why I’ve called you… Please understand, Hermione, that you are not to talk about anything in this room with anyone. In some cases, Dumbledore or McGonagall will be notified, and very, very… incredibly rarely… Snape...”

“The reason Snape actually is teaching his students is because his ‘private’ tutoring sessions were detailed out by the method Tonks checks for volatile situations, and she compared it to the class about five minutes later,” Violet stated, “When you have proof he takes aside a large chunk of the Slytherin students for first year aside and give them comprehensive cauldron safety lessons before their first lesson, then effectively give absolutely none to the following class...”

“Did wonder why we did a whole lesson on cauldron safety, and had our cauldrons inspected that week...” Hermione mused, “Not that I didn’t mind. From what I heard, the school cauldrons normally only got cleaned in detentions… Ever since, the first thing done every lesson is a basic cleaning charm on the cauldrons,”

“Other than that, he’s been on a redemption streak, at least in the eyes of Violet, due to the fact he was struck off the list of suitable guardians in her mother’s will...” Tonks continued, “He found it heartbreaking to see the daughter of such a wild, untamed soul as Lily turned into what is, to put it politely, your favourite doll,”

Hermione stifled a chuckle, while trying to avoid blushing at the fact that was exactly what she thought Violet was.

“Leaving that behind, for now, I referred you to myself because you’re too proud to do it yourself… You have problems with unwavering trust of authority figures as well as an issue with overshadowing others by the fact you’re practically Sherlock Holmes’ daughter in your intellect and reasoning skills,” Tonks finished, her facade of professionalism collapsing with Violet’s next statement.

“Nym, Were you actually reading the psychiatry textbook before Hermione arrived?” She asked, “Last I saw it, it was tossed at the bottom of my trunk...”

“Hush you, and less of the Nym… I’ve not used my birth name in years,” Tonks hissed back, “You live with a girl for long enough, and she thinks she can back talk...”

Tonks then went over to a box, marked with a picture of an urn and the legend ‘Pandora’s Box’, tapping it with her wand, before adjusting something inside and muttering a spell, before closing it.

“Are you even qualified to do this job?” Hermione asked incredulously, “I’m going to...”

“No telling Dumbledore. He barely even knows what a counsellor or therapist does, otherwise Violet wouldn’t be in my semi-permanent care, and several of the things I do with her would get me fired...” Tonks stated, Hermione swearing she heard her mutter ‘And that’s the ones that are publicly known...’ before she continued with, “I did download an online course and pick up some textbooks. Cost me a few galleons, and that was just to do the paperwork side of it… Goddamn slow, noisy...”

“Dial-Up rates are the devil’s work...” Hermione groused, “But even then...”

“I’d probably have given up on it all if it wasn’t for Violet’s case… I’ll just say two words, _**Child Abuse**_...” Tonks stated, Hermione’s demeanour turning horrified as an object landed on the table. A recent newspaper telling of a corrective school being closed down due to collusion in a paedophilia ring. She then handed them both a set of quickly written cue cards as she walked back to the box, Hermione knowing that what they’d discussed was off the record. Hermione didn’t need to know any more.

“Now, when I indicate you, state what’s on the cards, and only what’s on the cards. I’m thankful I didn’t get the dicta-quills which do timestamps...” Tonks muttered, Hermione realising what she meant about having a record of everything that happened in the room, and one of the illegal acts she was doing. She probably had some form of bugging device keeping records on conversations nearby.

Doubtful the common rooms were widely bugged, since there was a lot of random chatter. No wonder the box was marked as “_Pandora’s Box”_, the contents of what was recorded by that device was more dangerous than anything else in the school, and likely was how she could build a case without being present for all of it. Like the mythical box, you couldn't just 'close' the box. It's contents would reverberate long afterwards.

“OK, Hermione, What was your school life like before Hogwarts?” Tonks asked.

“Well, I was called a savant by my mother, but she felt that a normal school environment would benefit me. The teachers loved me. I was quick to answer, I gave almost all the right answers and my work was top-notch,” Hermione sighed, “I didn’t really notice how few friends I had, or the pointed glares,”

“Didn’t notice your social interactions suffered, only focused on the fact you were doing so well at school...” Tonks stated, writing down on a clipboard, and turning it round, confirming, firstly, ‘Moriarty’ was Tonks, and secondly, telling Hermione that she wouldn’t find any of Violet’s sessions by breaking into the box, the master copy was somewhere else, and past sessions are kept catalogued and locked away, “You were smarter than your peers, so overshadowed the lot of them, which ruined any chance of a normal school environment. Likely you retreated into books to avoid that...”

Hermione’s sigh of exasperation wasn’t completely about the next part of her session. Of course, Moriarty had out thought her. She wouldn’t need to write anything down, since it would be on the Box’s recording. And the only reason she did was simply to _avoid_ it being on the recording.

“Even worse, I was in an all-girl’s school, and found myself becoming fond of one or two of the less abrasive members of my class...” Hermione stated, not noticing Tonks’ calculating look, “I avoided inappropriate touches, but couldn’t help it...”

“And your accidental magic...” Tonks stated, Hermione nodding.

“You had it better than me...” Violet stated, “I was basically my uncle’s live-in maid service… He’d sold me to the headmaster of St. Brutus’ School for use as he sees fit. Why do you think I look like I’m only in my early teens?”

Hermione’s face went pale. She knew what was going on, she’d heard the terms in a talk at school. She actually knew a little too much about the subject. Damn inquisitiveness. She also now knew why Violet was so short for her age. Violet would be a perfect photography subject for paedophiles even after she reached her age of majority, so she wasn’t given a chance to grow.

“If you want to, do an essay on child abuse and grooming, which you will present to Violet when you come here for your next History Of Magic class. I cannot currently excuse you from DADA, unless you also get splitting headaches when the teacher is using the board.” Tonks stated, “However, please try to figure out what’s going on with him. And ask him to return the dictaquill he borrowed. They are expensive and school rules forbid interfering with the dictation devices...”

‘_Of course, no-one knows I break the office one open irregularly because I keep going off subject...’_ Tonk’s clipboard read as Hermione got up, understanding her session was over. She now knew a lot more… but the nature of what Violet did during her leisure time still evaded her... And finally, Pandora 'Moriarty' Tonks had beaten her. She _**was**_ getting counselling. Dammit.


	5. When you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This particular chapter hounded me for a few days, until I noticed one thing about the first half term. I then simply swapped some events round, and then everything worked out. Admittedly, even I didn’t think to check when Halloween is. I will note that the reason Hagrid’s egg wasn’t brought up at all comes up in the first chapter, namely the fact Hagrid is actually licensed, so he more than likely notified the right people long before anyone noticed what he was doing, and possibly even kept Norbert.  
I will add, for people who may have been confused, _Eyes and Brains_ was a common phrase in Sherlock Holmes In The 22nd Century when he was about to make a deduction, replacing the chapter title's long-winded quote.

Hermione was annoyed. She’d not even planned to do it, but more and more of her schedule, except weekends, was taken up by Pandora Tonks. She might not have any legal qualifications, but she’d managed to get her to talk about her problems at her previous school, and her somewhat odd obsession with Violet.

This meant their sessions were more like a game of mental chess, both people having their own things they were defending, Tonks defending what she did with Violet over the weekends that was so secret, while Hermione guarded her own growing feelings for Violet, and her annoying, growing need for Tonks in her life permanently. And neither wanted to give up that one thing, for fear of what it would do to their current relationship. Which was why Hermione was _Holmes_ and Tonks was _Moriarty_, except their games of mental chess were a lot more legal.

Part of the reason she was annoyed was right now, ostensibly being her first History Of Magic class since she admitted she was clingy with other girls. When she entered the classroom, there were two ‘desks’, one which was simply a chair with a hinged panel built into it, more similar to a baby’s chair than a school desk, even if Hermione knew some schools did use them like that, as well as a chair in front of a standard school desk, and a blackboard.

Violet sat by the normal desk, Hermione sitting in the only other chair, for Tonks to take out a padlock, locking the table down, Hermione looking at her since her arms were effectively trapped. Tonks then summoned their wands, revealing that was part of the idea. The lesson was not _just_ History Of Magic. This was also a session...

“Now, I will be using stinging hexes on you whenever you engage in inappropriate behaviour during the class,” Tonks stated, “During your therapy session, you admitted to some things that you shouldn’t do in a classroom environment. Now, Violet doesn’t have those problems. She will also be acting as part of the test,”

Dumbledore then stepped out of the fire, looking at Hermione curiously, clearly having not expected what he saw.

"OK, I will now give you a lecture on the war against Grindelwald, as well as on my own terrible mistakes during that period..." He declared, moving to the blackboard.

When Hermione left her first alternative History Of Magic class, it was sore, annoyed and with a fairly acceptable knowledge of the attitudes of magicals in Dumbledore’s time and the rise of one of the recent Dark Lords within Europe. Something else she left her class with was a desperate need for some Violet time. Every time she’d tried to destress with a quickie, she got hexed. Even more annoying, every time she wanted clarification of something she’d read in the books, she also got hexed. If Violet didn’t answer a question immediately, and she tried to offer to answer it, she got hexed. Even correcting Violet, Hex.

In Tonks’ office, Tonks sat them both down, Violet sitting in Hermione’s lap and allowing her to do some shameless cuddling. This was one of the reasons Hermione’s schedule had gained several blocks of hour long sessions with Tonks. They were excellent stress relief.

“The best instrument in my therapy work… One extremely cuddly doll that adores getting them… and then discussions well into the night about what’s appropriate when,” Tonks mused, Hermione’s eyebrow raising, before, adopting an air of professionalism, she finished with, “So, Hermione, how often do you think you almost disrupted the class?”

“I wasn’t dis… I was, wasn’t I?” Hermione sighed, Tonks smirking.

“Violet was deliberately right next to you, so invitingly cuddly. Every few minutes, if you started to be bored by the subject manner, or otherwise stressed, your thoughts turned to a quick cuddle and de-stress with the nearest thing suitable...” Tonks began, Hermione hanging her head, “And your arm, if it wasn’t secured down, would probably have been up and down like a proverbial yo-yo...”

“Several of the things Dumbledore said contradicted or weren’t even in the books…” Hermione sighed, “I wanted to question it, to interrupt, to interject… I was terrible.”

“And the books are far from accurate on everything,” Violet stated, “You’ll be given those lessons, in the same format, for the same reasons, until you can keep things like that in private… For now, however, I think we both need some sleep...”

Hermione was allowed to loan some sleepwear and, within a short time, was fast asleep with her favourite comfort doll cuddled up to her. Tonks sighed. She now was thinking of Hermione as something more than a patient as well. It wasn’t a bad thing either, since Hermione was just as much in need of those cuddles as Violet, and for similar reasons. Broken family life and a bad upbringing.

When McGonagall came to ask why Hermione’s session had overrun, she just smiled and took Tonks aside to discuss some alarming news. Hermione didn’t even know it then, but she ceased to be a Granger that day.

What Hermione _did_ find out about that day was that her schedule was changed, without her input, from sporadic sessions to practically daily, with her now finding herself becoming a regular fixture of the office-cum-apartment, and not minding one bit. Violet was coming to adore the attention she was getting from Hermione, and she’d managed, so far, to keep the touches chaste. Right now, however, they were preparing to have a party in the small office of their own for Halloween, Tonks smiling about the fact Hermione hadn’t even noticed she’d been moved in, her trunk discreetly sat next to Violet’s now, the transition so discreet, and Violet so needy, she practically used Violet’s bed all the time.

Except weekends. So far.

Hermione was cooing over Violet’s witch costume, Violet letting her have her fun, when there was a gong sound, Tonks gesturing for Hermione to let Violet use her own seat as Tonks got up and approached what was colloquially termed as ‘The Founder’s Line’, the fact it hadn’t been used outside of Violet’s initial case review so far showing exactly why no-one noticed the student counsellor up and vanish...

Namely the fact barely anyone actually acknowledged the position, and referrals were few and far between, despite the numerous requests for her to talk with some of the new students, which meant she just left. Which was why most of Pandora’s time was Hermione and/or Violet time, which none of them personally minded at all.

“Ah good, you’re all there...” Dumbledore stated looking round, “I see that you’re getting ready for Halloween yourself. I would think you would attend the main party...”

“I have anxiety issues in large groups...” Violet offered, “And Hermione has serious problems socialising due to a terrible intellect and some social issues…”

“Well, We currently are looking for a new DADA teacher...” Dumbledore began, for them to hear the sound of someone cocking a crossbow, “Professor Quirrel was exorcised during his arrest for letting in a troll. I would like an essay from _both of you_ on the nature of a homuculus for the next DADA lesson...”

“OK, Let’s go find that wee beastie...” Hagrid’s voice stated, hiding the quite colorful curse words Hermione used over Dumbledore’s off-hand confirmation of why he said ‘**_exorcised_**’ rather than ‘_killed_’. Well, that would explain why they’d need a new DADA teacher. The old one was dead before he even did a single class.

“Good job we got the ear of the house elves and aren’t going down to the feast then...” Tonks offered, “How about the rest of the school?”

“Someone had the bright idea of just barring the door to the Great Hall, reinforcing it with magic, and sending Hagrid to go talk to it,” Dumbledore stated, looking towards the direction Hagrid’s voice had come from, “Oddly, he took his crossbow to do so… I don’t know what kind of conversation needs something that could double as a ballista...”

“I think maybe one that involves the troll being encouraged to leave or not be around much longer,” Hermione offered quietly, just before Hagrid’s voice then came back in.

“He got the message...” Hagrid stated, flatly, telling Hermione that it was definitely the latter, “Found him having wandered out of the dungeons. He was attempting to attack ol’ Myrtle Warren… I’m going to go check out a passage ‘e found under the sinks, make sure it’s safe, Dunno what it’s doing there...”

“Imagine if that had been a student rather than the infamous Myrtle...” Tonks stated, as the line cut off abruptly, then there was a crackling sound, followed by coughing.

“Oh my, haven’t had to use this in years… Ahem. I have an announcement. The girl’s bathroom currently inhabited by Myrtle Warren is hereby off-limits during repair work after a Death Eater broke into the school with the assistance of a troll...” Dumbledore’s voice stated, “The Death Eater is no longer of this world, and nor is the troll. Professor Quirrel was badly injured in the incident and has retired from the DADA post forthwith,”

“OK, Challenge for you two. Make up the most outlandish, ridiculous and insane story, while remaining plausible, about how Violet defeated an anonymous Death Eater and his pet troll with the pitiful assistance of Professor Quirrel, and the much appreciated assistance of Hagrid,” Tonks stated as Violet began cackling to herself, before, as an aside, adding, “He didn’t say anything about Quirrel dying, and of course, Violet’s not been in the Great Hall since the first day. They’ll think she did it all...”

At the following class in the adjoining classroom, they presented the story to Dumbledore, who looked it over, muttering a few things while editing it, then summoned an owl.

“Surprising one of you figured out Quirrel had He Who Must Not Be Named possessing him… OK, I need you to get this to the publishers as soon as you can, Maybe we can have it out for a Christmas release...” Dumbledore declared, the owl disappearing off, “Amazing work, saved me having to do the book myself…”

“Wait, you just had us ghostwrite the latest Harriet Potter novel?!” Hermione declared, incredulously, before adding, “I assumed, since Violet’s curse scar was caused by him, he was somehow related to Quirrel’s situation...”

“Well, It’ll be the first in the Violet Baudelaire-Potter stories, but yes, Pandora did, which I highly appreciate...” Dumbledore stated, “10 points each to Gryffindor for the story, and 20 points to Hermione for realising what the snap assignment was, and correctly figuring out the ‘anonymous’ Death Eater…”

“Must be the first time one of those is actually written by me…” Violet quipped, “Still, Least you know why they sound completely unrealistic... They're fanciful versions of likely something that really happened,”

“Ahem, I have two pieces of news for Hermione...” Dumbledore stated, “Firstly, Your mother attempted to sell your apartment out from under you a few weeks ago. Unfortunately for her, I had some of my friends staying there until Christmas. One of them, Arthur Weasley, wants to know if you mind him borrowing, long term, your copy of The Way Things Work. He’s been reading it dilligently since he got there...”

“No problem… Actually, He can keep it, possibly make it part of Muggle Studies...” Hermione answered flatly, unable to believe her mother would do something like that, even if she’d expected it.

“Secondly, read out this piece of paper, up to you what you use as a middle and last name,” Dumbledore stated, “It’s meant to be designed to induce an effect similar to what made Violet Baudelaire, well, who she is today,”

“I renounce all claims to any name other than Hermione Irene Adler Holmes, and retroactively have had no name other than such, So mote it be,” Hermione stated. What no-one noticed, at the time, was Hermione’s parents vanish from Hermione’s pictures of her family, and Hermione’s parents forget they had a daughter, due to the second line of the vow, which erased that Hermione Granger had ever existed. Fawkes appeared with the sorting hat, dropped it on her head, where it groused, ‘Still Gryffindor’, then was sent back on it’s way.

“Oops. Next time, reword it,” Dumbledore stated as he realised what he’d done, “Anyway, Ms. Holmes, You will be under the same guardianship as Ms. Baudelaire, and I would like you both to make a list of classes which are difficult for you to do in the current environment. Due to this, I will be moving your office to an open plan arrangement in part of the seventh floor. Pandora, I believe you have a place to stay within Hogsmeade?”

Tonks nodded. She wanted to get both of the girls to Karina’s store anyway over the Christmas break.

“Due to the nature of this arrangement, I will be declaring you to be an unaffiliated ‘fifth’ house,” Dumbledore stated, “How this will affect house points and other house-related activities will be discussed between Tonks and the other Heads of House over the break.”

“Why is this happening?” Hermione asked.

“You show admirably the tenets of at least two houses, and spend most of your time already with Pandora, meaning I might as well just declare this _as_ your Hogwarts house!” Dumbledore declared, “The only thing I need from this house is, any time anything happens with the School that people would presume is her fault, you work on a new book for me by next class we have,”

“I have a good name for this house… The Asylum.” Tonks offered, “Because we’re all clearly crazy if we’ve ended up here long term!”

“We will see...” Dumbledore offered with a chuckle.

The rest of Hermione’s first half term was spent in classes in History Of Magic and DADA, which were taken by Dumbledore, and sometimes Snape, who taught them all about the more recent incidents that shaped modern wizarding history. Within only a month, the desks vanished, to be replaced by bean bag chairs, suggested by Tonks, and the latter half of the lesson was taken up by debate on the talk given at the start of the lesson, suggested by Hermione.

What was surprising was that she found that everyone learned a lot from the lessons, helped by the fact that as the classroom and general attitude went from stuffy regimented learning to literally asking the historical figure who was involved, often in the middle of it, in some very dark times that defined them now. An example of an accidental lesson was the talk that occurred about the Marauders.

A floo call later, and an additional person joined the talk, Remus Lupin, and a lot was aired in what was a relatively speaking private chat, as Violet learned about her parents, and about how a simple prank one day almost got Snape killed, and that Remus Lupin’s name was not one to be joked about. Hermione walked away from that lesson with more questions than answers.

During one weekend, Hermione looked out of her window at the Black Lake. It was several weeks since she’d arrived here, and now she’d ended up living at Hogwarts. Her trusty computer was in bits, part of the open house project for Charms, with Flitwick, her and Arthur Weasley working together to get it running without electricity.

When they didn’t have classes, or any other reason to be out of the ‘house’, Violet was usually sat on the window sill, looking out wistfully. The petite girl didn’t leave the corridor except for mealtimes, and periods where they all got cabin fever, she knew it without a shadow of doubt, since the new class schedule pretty much meant that their world was now a four room space, since the classrooms across from the office were now their quarters.

It was a weekend, so Violet wouldn’t be seen at all until Monday. Hermione went into the open house classroom, checking the door Tonks used when moving between her office and the classroom, finding it unlocked. What she found was Tonks sat with Violet, who was dressed in a leather outfit she’d never seen before, her arms pinned behind her in some kind of sleeve.

“What would Hermione think if they saw you like this?” Tonks literally purred, “Dressed so invitingly...”

“She’d never let me go...” Violet mused, blushing, “I wouldn’t exactly want her to, either...”

‘_She’s right...’_ A small voice in Hermione’s head stated, ‘_You want her so much right now...’_

When Hermione went back to her room nearly an hour later, she found her fingers practically jammed themselves between her legs, as she thought about what poses and outfits Violet wore for Tonks, as she tried to get a release from the fact the ‘weekend sessions’ were much more than she’d thought of.

“She doesn’t even know it’s bad to do things like that...” Tonks’ voice said from behind her, and she blushed, trying hard to compose herself, “She’s messed up, even more than anyone else knows...”

“The weekend sessions?” Hermione asked, “They’re her, dressed like that, with you doing things like that with her?”

“There are no records except the photographs. Photographs that only three people know about, and two of them are in this room...” Tonks stated, holding up the camera, “She was almost doing those photo shoots for a bunch of men twice her age, with no thought for her own decency...”

Hermione shuddered, realising now what was going on.

“Tonks, I want you to do something...” Hermione asked, biting her lip as she did, “Well, I… I think I might need a ‘weekend session’...”

The following morning, Hermione was taken aside and handed a smooth leather bodysuit, blushing as she slid it on, her hair pulled into a ponytail at the back.

“Mmm...” Tonks murmured, “Considering you spend most of your time behind books or that infernal device, you keep a good figure...”

“Most bibliophiles get excellent weight training just from their usual weekly read...” Hermione replied, "It's not hard to keep fit when you carry round several kilos of books all the time..."

“Over Christmas, I’ll get you properly fitted, as well as Violet,” Tonks declared, helping her with the cuffs and a corset, “This will do for until then,”

“Is the box...” Hermione asked.

“It's disconnected. As far as McGonagall and Dumbledore know, weekend sessions are discussions of Violet’s past, allowing her to come to terms with it...” Tonks stated, “There’s no copies of the scrolls where I talk dirty to Violet anywhere...”

Hermione stayed out of sight as Violet’s session began. Hermione remembered when Tonks had let slip about when something became too intimate, and now she understood why. Tonks was close to over-stepping her boundaries with the weekend sessions, which were testing what Violet’s limits were.

“What would you do if Hermione was here right now?” Tonks asked, as her hands ran over Violet’s body, “Doing this to you?”

“But she doesn’t feel like that about me...” Violet stated, “I’m a doll, a toy she loves to cuddle with, not...”

“Not what?” Tonks asked, “A deviant girl who wants this as much as you?”

Hermione stepped out, and Violet was stunned as Hermione allowed herself to go through the same drills. A short time later, Hermione and Violet, in matching rubber dresses, both wearing rubber straitjackets, sat in the classroom, the desks out again.

“We’ll probably not be using this for much longer, so at least we got this out in the open now...” Tonks mused, “I have less than professional feelings for both of you,”

“I will admit that probably both of us don’t see you as a therapist...” Hermione observed, Violet nodding after a pause, “Yes, you help us out with our problems, but in the way a really good friend does. You’ve given us an outlet that we need for our problems, but you don’t give us therapy...”

“Tonks, Hermione, If I was to suggest Tonks got a nice big bed, and had two rubber-clad girls either side of her...” Violet asked, Hermione squirming on her chair, “Thought so.”

“Now, Hermione, Violet needs these sessions. You don’t,” Tonks stated, “That doesn’t mean you will be turned away when they happen from now on…”

“Although, We don’t let anyone else know about this, unless they want to know about it...” Hermione stated, “Now, about that bed...”

Tonks smiled as she relaxed with two sleeping girls, both open to the kinds of things she’d wanted to do from the beginning. When the new setup was in place, one or two of Hermione’s sessions would _have_ to end up with her right where she was right now. She wore rubber and leather just as well as Violet. The following weekend, and the weekends following it, had two sets of basic bondage wear being worn, and every night saw those suits coming out.

The 'weekend sessions' would return if someone else needed Pandora’s help, but, for now, they were just an extension of what already happened. And, for Hermione, she now had a different mystery to solve, as she looked at some of her notes...

‘_S. Black – Was he really the Secret Keeper? And if he wasn't... Where's Peter Pettigrew?’_


End file.
